At our writers’ group the other night, our president used some extra time to ask about what we’ve been reading lately.

My original thought was to compare three books that I had recently read, but a funny thing happened when I opened my mouth.  Even though the information was there in my brain, I could not spit it out correctly. I remembered the name of one book, but the name of the author (who I know, and follow on Facebook) just would not roll off my tongue. The second I did pretty well with, but the one I really wanted to recommend got botched completely. I got the title only half-right, and vaguely remembered some of the letters in the author’s rather difficult name.

Someone came to my rescue and looked it up for me. God bless iPhones.

After getting that out of the way, the comparisons I wanted to make just didn’t seem the same when the words were out there. As a result, my conversation faded out because I felt silly and ineffective.

So, here’s my question. Why, as writers, can’t we talk? Some of you shake your head and say, “Hey – speak for yourself”, but others are nodding. I see you.

Are we speaking before we think about what we want to say? Are we thinking ahead, leaving the words behind? Are our minds too busy with the rest of the clutter that’s in there? I often say my hard drive is full, so it takes a while to retrieve the files. Friends laugh, but it worries me sometimes.

I don’t have trouble with words when I’m writing. They flow easily onto the page, looking back at me in strong black print against the bright white screen. It doesn’t seem difficult. And if I don’t like the word I’ve used, I simply click the cursor back a few notches, or point my mouse at the offending letters, and change them. Easy-Peasy. When I’m writing, I can go slowly – thinking about what I want to say, finding just the right word, even experimenting to find one that’s more exact.

Maybe that’s the problem. I need a delete button or autocorrect (oh yeah, like that works…) for words that I’ve pushed out of my mouth. Once they are out, there’s no turning back. So I either listen to myself babble, aghast at what I’ve said, or stumble over the word altogether. Sometimes I’m simply tongue-tied. My mouth hangs there, open, and nothing comes out because I can’t choose the right word.

Many of my writer-friends tell me they do this, too. Maybe it’s because, as writers, we know not just ANY word will do. It has to be THE right word. And trying to find just the right word in the middle of a sentence that is flowing like a river can be daunting.

Yeah, I think I’m gonna go with that.

It’s better than thinking about getting older…

Ever had this problem? Yeah…